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Resources: ImageServer Friends: Jon Sullivan Mark Blair |
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| Update: See Front Bumper Version 2 for the curent bumper design. Seriously, read above! My new design is much better!
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Comments: Jon (2002-08-20): Actually a good winch like that would have come in handy when I drove my car off the cliff several years ago. You never know when you'll have to tow yourself up a 180 degree incline. And could we expect any less from someone who has both a vented server rack AND a death ray laser in his livngroom? Erik (2002-08-20): The death ray is in my storage space for now. I will get back to it once I have a clean place to work on it. Keith Armstrong (2002-08-22): Great work Eric. I might be a little concerned about the ends of the bumper's ability to support a vertical load....like you would apply to use a hi-lift. Have you thought about a straight line from the base (under the winch) to the outer edge, rather than the more abrupt step that you have illustrated? Erik (2002-08-22): You're right. The tubing of the wings would probably break at the point they join to the face plate if I tried to jack the truck up from the corner. Of course they could also just bend if I used tubing that wasn't strong enough. I think I could make the joint strong enough, by increasing the overlap, but I might have to use something stronger than the 2"x1"x1/8" I was planning on. Perhaps 4"x2"x1/8". Thanks Keith! Erik (2002-08-26): Also, I've incorporated a three-point attachment of the bumper 'wings' to the frame sleeves. One weld on the end of the tube to the winch box, and two triangular 1/4" steel brackets. One directly under the wing to the side of the frame sleeve, and one (partly asthetic) triangular piece from the front side of the winch box to the front of the wing. It will give me a jack point right at the corner, all along the side of the wing, and of course, from under the center of the bumper. Michael (2002-08-27): Will you be entering your Land Rover into the next "Battle Bots" competition? Erik (2002-08-27): Haha! No. I do, however, have a battlebot design in my head that I think could win, so maybe that's my next metalworking project. Matt Bell (2002-08-27): They might have a problem with your battlebot project as well... Erik (2002-08-27): I'm outta here in three or four months! Dunno where yet though... Anywhere with a three car garage I suppose. :-) Matt Bell (2002-09-03): It looks great! Now you will have to resist the urge to crush slow moving cars.. Erik (2002-09-03): Thanks! So when are we going out to the desert to test my new bumpers and your new suspension? BTW: Got a radio in that jeep of yours? Matt Bell (2002-09-04): I might be able to get away the last weekend this month the 28th and 29th. (We are launching our service to the public on the 20th, so it's hard to make plans) I might have to work depending on how it goes. As far as radios are concerned I'm afraid all I have is a lousy CB with a mag mount whip. I'm looking at GMRS radios as a good handheld alternitave though. Chris (2004-04-16): Just a concerned coment. I'm in the process of building a front bumper for my rig. Your truck looks new enought to have an airbag. Have you thought about altered crush dynamics that would upset your airbag sensitivity? Erik (2004-04-16): My truck does indeed have an airbag. And you're right, adding a stiff bumper like this does alter the dynamics of the system. Specifically, it makes the system more sensitive. The airbags are more likely to go off in a frontal collision. To keep that from happening, I would need to add "crush cans" or some other deceleration device into the design. I don't feel confident in being able to do that without compromising the strength of the bumper. So, I've settled to have an over-sensitive bumper. One possibility is adding external crush cans to the bumper. Either metal boxes designed to crush, or large rubber bumpers. I am still considering both these options. ashby tippet (2004-04-18): I thought your bumber didn't fi the style or your vehicle. personally I thing your bumper sucked. You should diffenitly put the stock bumper on or buy a bumper to house your 12000 pound winch that you haven't even got yet. And your metal work sucks. I'm in high school and can weld better than that. Anyways good luck on your battlebot. A piece of addvice. Make better welds on your battlebot. Erik (2004-04-18): You're entitled to your opinion, Ashley. But so am I. Here's mine: You're a dumbass. Ashley Tippafaggotte (2004-06-03): I apologize for acting so gay. I was simply trying to prove the size of my penis. Pat (2005-02-10): What do you expect a dumbass in high school is going to say? The kid still believes he's the shiz and knows more than everyone else out there. The bumper looks good. Erik (2005-02-11): Thanks Pat. Macelo -Argentine (2005-03-31): congratulations , i make my bumper for discovery I , i copied some ideas of your bumper , thank you . Erik (2005-03-31): Macelo, great! I'd love to see pictures! you deserved it (2005-08-14): it's no wonder they banned you. it's dangerous and possibily lethal doing that crap inside a garage -- not to mention poisonous for others. how lame of you. Erik (2005-08-15): The garage was not an underground or other enclosed type. Each single-car garage had a full-sized door, and was separate from the other garages. It would not be poisonous to anyone, including myself, given that a three-walled room is fairly well ventilated. The greatest danger was from fire, and even though I always had a fire extinguisher, it was a real concern, as it always is with welding, and the management office was being perfectly reasonable to ask me to stop. wes (2005-08-26): Bumper looks tough. A lil bit too tough, i feel like it doesn't match the car. Now if that was a hummer, it would be a different story wes (2005-08-26): thats my opinion. Erik (2005-08-26): Yeah, this design was too bulky. That was one of the primary concerns of the new design. Jim (2006-02-18): Looks like you may have spray painted your bumper. I just built a brush guard and I had "Line-X" put a spray on bed sealer on it. Talk about tough, life time warranty, and not too expensive. Pat (2006-06-09): I like what you did, Land Rovers are stout and now so is your new bumper. Nice job, the metal work is cool. brad (2007-01-29): Nice, I want one for my silverado. A bumper cannot be to aggressive, cars can be too small. Erik (2007-01-29): Thanks Brad. Parker (2007-02-05): Looks very goood Ben (2007-02-24): looks pretty good man. I have been looking at your construction from time to time for a while, just getting ideas. I built a bumper for my F-150 and am about to build a much tougher one for my friend's Bronco. I like your deign, very simple but effective, covers the vital areas. I dont care for the way the winch area protrudes, but i can understand that you didnt want to have to mess with cutting the grill, gets tricky. O and i feel you with the welder, but in the opposite spectrum. I have a 225V stick welder, so i am always concerned about burning through. Drew (2007-07-24): All winch mount bumpers protrude! Unless they are mounted directly to the front.. which puts a lot of money out on the leading edge of your vehicle. (crunch) Anyway, I think this was a very minimal design with max effectiveness. Most winch mount bumpers are massive and look like they weigh more than the truck. Just wondering (2007-07-24): You'll mutilate anyone you happen to run into. God help them if they're in a normal passenger car -- that thing will cut right in at head level. Do you even care? Drew (2007-07-24): Looks to me with the stock ride height it won't even reach the bottom of a car window. The idea is to protect your vehicle, not the guy's car pulling out in front of you ;) Erik (2007-07-31): Just wondering, both this and my new bumper designs are at the same height as the stock bumper. With my tire and suspension lift, it'd most likely hit right into the trunk of a small car. It's about knee-hight to a standing person. I don't think this is any more lethal than any other large truck on the road. Kyle (2007-11-02): Very nice, I looked over everything and it's too bad you can't work on it in your garage anymore :( I was just doing some research for my Senior Project and I came across this page.. I am currently building my own set of front and rear bumpers for my '91 Cherokee. Very cool man, looks great, and will perform even better. pete (2007-12-10): did you run into any problems with airbag sensors? I plan on building a bumper on my Ranger, but i'm afraid my airbags won't work right when i'm done. Erik (2007-12-11): Pete, bolting a big solid bumper right to the frame, instead of using "crush cans", will increase the sensitivity of the airbag system, since the energy of an impact will more directly be transmitted to the frame. If this is a concern for you, some of the aftermarket bumpers offer crush cans in their design. Justin (2008-04-10): I think the bumper is ugly! Erik (2008-04-18): Thanks. andrew (2008-05-10): i think thats awesome. id like to have a bumper made for my old vw bus, kind of like a brush guard...but more to make it safer. nice job man! bp3dp (2008-10-23): ARB would have been cheeper and better. Unless you don't value two months of your life, I could make nine hundred dollars in three days of carpet installing easy. then I would have 57 other days do enjoy my disco well after I made some money for gas only gets like 12 to 14 now and after a bumper and winch like 10 or so. But I like it I may design one and have some one weld it for me I got a B- in welding in highschool and I would rather some one weld it who welds every day. Erik (2008-10-25): bp3dp, I value three months of my life quite dearly. I value it so much, that I quite often spend time doing things I love, like building things. rich (2008-11-08): I like it . I am drawing one for my 96 discovery and really like the way yours is tall,good front end protection. I am planing on making mine slope all the way to the edges of the end caps . very cool designe man.mine is going to be 2x6 1/4 wall tobe with 2x2 at the ends. RR (2008-11-08): Erik, bumper is cool, and its awesome that you built it yourself. good job. Bp3dp - you could probably save even more money if you paid someone else to offroad for you. bonnie (2009-02-15): hey erik, im trying to build my own side skirts for my car. im using sheet metal(aluminium). do you think i will b able to weld it to my car body??.and can you gimme some tips??..iif i pull this out illl be going for the front bumper..and thats when i need ur help...is sheet metal ok for it??.. Erik (2009-02-15): bonnie, Aluminum is very difficult to weld, in comparison to steel anyway. You need the correct welding gear, usually gas-shielded MIG. Also, I would strongly suggest not welding directly onto your car. The electric welding rigs can damage your engine computer. I'd suggest building your bumper as a bolt-on unit, that way you can always take it off to work on it. Jeremy (2009-02-19): Erik, Look real nice and clean. how much would you say that it cost you all together? also, how much did the extra weight of the bumper drop the front end down? Erik (2009-02-20): Total materials cost was probably ~$200. This one weighed about 70 lbs, and had a negligible impact on ride height. gearhead (2009-04-26): nice job, Im considering your design for my own bumper on a 05 ranger ford idigit (2009-07-11): too many haters out there... i am about to mock up something for my blazer, i too am limited in welding capacity. Would you do this again using the same welder or upgrade? Erik (2009-07-11): My 80 amp mig welder worked well for this, but for the 1/4" plate welds, a good pre-heating and multi-pass weld is necessary. If you're planning on doing lots of welding on thick steel, I'd probably start with a 100-200amp stick welder. Chuck75 (2009-08-05): looks good but there's no support in the middle but the front plate. I think youll find that the first pull you'll get a nice bow in the front. may I suggest a bottom plate that welds flush with the bottom of your frame supports or aleast some gussets Joscon5 (2009-09-04): Dude, that looks freakin' sweet! I'm lookin' to get something for my '94 Dakota, and I was thinking about building one. My welding experience is pretty slim though... Think I'm beter off leaving it to someone else? Erik (2009-09-21): Joscon5, if you want it to be strong, look good, go together well, you need good metalworking skills, including welding, cutting, fitting, etc. If you want to learn those skills, a bumper, especially a simple design is a great way to learn, especially if you're willing to throw out the first one or two. :-) Tony (2009-10-19): Like your bumper good job. I want to do the same for my jeep cherokee Joel (2009-10-27): Speaking as a professional welder 1/4" plate should be welded with a 200 amp machine. Preheating can make up a lot but 80 amps is not safe and I would break test a piece the way he welded it just to be sure. Erik (2009-10-27): Joel, I agree. When I first started, I did several strength tests with different weld configurations. Using my 80-amp mig welder, on 1/4" mild steel, I was able to get a strong weld only by using liberal pre-heating, beveling and running beads on both sides of a critical weld. This kind of weld held up under my "sledge hammer" test, so on all my bumpers, this is the procedure I follow. Still waiting for a high-power mig/tig/stick/plasma cutter rig to pop up on my spending priorities list... Alexander (2010-02-04): Wow, awesome, I am looking for the same for my Disco II. MCW23 (2010-03-20): I think the design is clean and sharp. I have a full walk around, diamond plate rear bumper on my '94 Nissan PU and I 100% agree, it feels right and I find it especially handy with a topper. I just bought a winch and am going to weld up a custom front bumper with my 110v Lincoln MIG. I am considering welding 2, 2" receivers into the bumper and installing my winch onto a hitch mounted plate. This would serve serveral purposes: 1) I could switch the winch from front to back, depending on my pulling needs 2) I can remove and protect the winch from theft and weather. Highlander (2010-04-09): Erik, nice work - I'm looking to do the same for my project '94 RRC... did you do any kind of mock up 1st, like making a bumper out of corrugated? Erik (2010-04-10): Highlander, For this front bumper, I didn't do any physical mock-up. I sketched out about what I wanted, and did the photo-mockups above, then built the winch box. After that, I built one wing, in pieces, checking with test-fits as I went. Then I just made the second wing identical to the first one. Austin (Agie Sr) (2013-02-04): Outstanding job See also: Obsession, 265/75-R16 Tires on a DII, Driving, Front Bumper Version 2, Front Bumper, Version 2, Front Bumper, Version 2, Front Bumper, Version 2, Land Rover Mileage permalink | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
